There were seven Chiltern Harriers taking part for their counties at
the Southern Inter Counties Track and Field Championships for U15s and
U20s at Abingdon on Saturday.
Although the sun was shining, very strong winds made fast times difficult for sprinters and middle distance runners alike.
In
the U20 age group Dan Cady and Sophie East were both taking part in the
100m and 200m for Buckinghamshire. In the 100m both made the final, Dan
finishing seventh, and Sophie finishing sixth in times well below their
best due to a -4 headwind. Sophie just missed out on the 200m final by
two hundredths of a second and Dan set a PB in his 200m heat of 23.72.
In
the U15 age group Jamie Lloyd (300m), Jonty Wager-Leigh (800m) and
Hannah Morton (150m) were representing Hertfordshire whilst Sam Henning
(1500m) and Hannah Thear (1500m) were running for Bucks.
In
the 800m Jonty was in the faster of two heats and, although missing out
on a place in the final, obtained a new PB of 2.17.05. Jamie Lloyd made
the final of the 300m and finished a creditable fifth, despite being
fairly new to the event.
In the 1500m races the strong wind
took its toll and although some of the country’s best runners were
taking part, fast times were difficult to come by. Sam Henning
was sixth in the boys race a few seconds outside his recently set
record, and Hannah Morton (10th) and Hannah Thear (12th) found
conditions tough, both finishing well outside their best times.
Having
such a strong presence in a prestigious event like this is a credit to
the able and committed crop of young athletes at Chiltern Harriers at
the moment and is just reward for their focus and hard work.